Michael Mulcahy (Dublin South Central, Fianna Fail)

We will have five minutes each. It is important that there should be a mature appreciation not just in this House but among the population as to the seriousness of the current economic situation. It is perfectly right and reasonable to examine what we have done in recent years, to be positive where it is appropriate to be positive and to be critical where it is appropriate to be critical. No Government ever gets it entirely right. Governments make mistakes. People make mistakes. That is not unreasonable. When one looks at what is happening in the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Germany, Greece and the United States of America, there is no doubt that this downturn in our economy is mirrored precisely, if it is not worse, in several economies.

The question thus arises as to what should be the response of the Government to a downturn of that magnitude. In the main, I fully support the programme as set out yesterday by the Taoiseach and Minister for Finance. It is a sensible first step. However, I have to be honest about it; perhaps they should even have gone a little bit further because at this stage we do not know if this is a recession, a very deep recession or a depression. If it is a depression the economic downturn could last for not just up to three years but possibly up to six years. In that case our tax revenue would decrease even more, which would put our general budgetary situation under strain.

I am sure the Acting Chairman was in the Chamber when she heard the figures given to her party leader about the cost to the State of the unemployed, not just giving an unemployed person, correctly, social supports and unemployment benefit but also the cost to the State of lost tax revenue. The real challenge for economic recovery is to deal with unemployment. Not enough credit has been given to the previous Government and the one before that for having reduced unemployment and having secured the employment for the first time in the State of more than 2 million people — a not insignificant achievement.

The question now arises as to how we respond to the crisis. The first step is to restore stability to the national financial and budgetary situation. I am pleased the Taoiseach said that this morning. The second step must be to get our competitiveness into line with other economies. There are a few basic costs to any business. One is the cost of capital, which has come down because interest rates are now cheap. However, capital must also be available and that is why we are addressing the banking situation.

The second major ingredient in the cost of any business is the cost of labour. Whether we like it, the cost of labour in this country is unacceptably high. That goes from the top to the bottom. The minimum wage in Ireland is just south of €9 per hour. The minimum wage in Poland is approximately €2 per hour. I do not advocate that we go down to that level but we need to examine every aspect of the price of labour in this State. I hope to debate the matter with colleagues in the next few months. I echo the comments made by Deputy Jim O'Keeffe, that double time on Sunday at the current rate is no longer sustainable. It is no surprise that hotels are closing. I call on the trade unions to show some leadership in that respect. Ultimately, what is the point in having high wages if jobs are going to disappear?

I very much support the Government's programme, as announced yesterday.

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